MILWAUKEE - The Golden Eagles will look to bounce back after a tough loss to No. 3/3 Florida at home on Wednesday when the face their seventh ranked team of the season in No. 13/13 Denver on the road on Saturday.

The Last Meeting

Marquette

5

Denver

11

March 25, 2016
Denver, Colo.

Marquette Suffers 11-5 Setback at Denver
The Marquette University women's lacrosse team was unable to find an answer for a stifling Denver defense, falling to the Pioneers 11-5 at the Peter Barton Lacrosse Stadium on Friday.

Marquette, which fell to 4-8 overall, 2-2 in the BIG EAST, look to keep pace for a top-four spot in the league standings against Denver. Live stats and live video will be available via DenverPioneers.com. The game will also be aired live on Altitude Sports (DirecTV Channel 681). First draw is set for 2 p.m. Central time.

MU was making a first-half run when it scored three-straight goals to cut a seven-goal deficit to four and was threatening to score in the final minute of the opening half until Florida regained possession and netted two goals in the final 20 seconds. The third-ranked Gators pulled away in the second half en route to a 21-7 victory inside the dome.

Denver, which enters Saturday with a 9-2 record, including a 3-1 mark in BIG EAST play, knocked off Butler last time out with a score of 20-3. Kendra Lanuza scored seven points in the win over the Bulldogs, including four goals to bring her season total to 47 points on 23 goals and 24 assists. Elizabeth Behrins and Julie Feiss aren’t far behind with 34 points apiece, including 29 and 27 goals, respectively. Goalie Maddy Stevenson has a slim 8.47 goals against average with a stellar .464 save percentage for the Pios.

Both teams have met just once all-time and that meeting came just a year ago with Denver claiming an 11-5 victory in Colorado.

Following Saturday’s game against the Pioneers, the Golden Eagles will remain on the road to take on UConn on Wednesday, April 12, before returning home to face Georgetown at Valley Fields on Saturday, April 15.

LAST TIME OUT• The Golden Eagles fell to their sixth ranked team of the season as No. 3/3 Florida came into Valley Fields and came away with a 21-7 victory. After building an 8-1 lead, MU answered with three straight goals and threatened to add more in the final minute of the opening half, but Florida regained possession and eventually scored twice to take a 10-4 lead into halftime.

• Defensively, Fran Meyer continues her hot streak with three ground balls, two draw controls and two caused turnovers. In net, Jules Horning made nine stops, while picking up four ground balls and three caused turnovers.

SCOUTING DENVER• The upstart No. 13 Pioneers joined the national rankings amid a 5-0 start and back-to-back wins over ranked opponents No. 12 Stanford and No. 18 Louisville earlier this season. They enter with a 9-2 mark and a 3-1 record in BIG EAST play with their lone league loss coming against unbeaten Florida. The Pios bounced back following that loss to the Gators with convincing home wins over UConn (16-11) and Butler (20-3) in their previous two outings.

• Denver entered the week leading the BIG EAST and ranking 13th in the country in defense, allowing just 8.80 goals per game, while holding five opponents to fewer than 10 goals this season. Offensively, they are sixth in the league with 12.20 goals per game thanks to a team-high 47 points from Kendra Lanuza on 23 goals and 24 assists. Elizabeth Behrins has 34 points on 29 goals and is coming off a seven-goal performance in the win over UConn last time out. In net, Maddy Stevenson carries all 11 decisions with an 8.47 GAA and a .464 save percentage.

SERIES HISTORY• Marquette and Denver met for the first time last season in non-conference play and will meet for the first time as BIG EAST foes on Saturday. A disappointing setback a season ago, the Golden Eagles committed 22 turnovers and were unable to muster enough offense in an 11-5 loss on the road. After trailing 6-3 at halftime, MU only scored twice in the second half.

ANOTHER MILESTONE FOR Julianna Shearer• After she became Marquette’s all-time leading goal scorer against Temple on March 25, Shearer needed just two points to reach 100 for her career. She did so in grand fashion with a hat trick in a 20-6 win over Villanova on April 1, becoming the fourth Golden Eagle and second(Bochniak) this season to reach the milestone. She now has 95 career goals after netting a hat trick in Wednesday’s loss to Florida.

•The Westminster, Maryland, native currently holds the single-season goals mark with 36 tallies in 2016 and is poised to eclipse that in the coming games as she enters the Denver game with a team-leading 35 goals on the season.

GABRIEL EARNS BIG EAST MIDFIELDER OF THE WEEK• Sophomore Grace Gabriel, who has set and reset her own single-game record for draw controls this season, matched Julianna Shearer’s single-game mark for goals with six, netting a hat trick in each half in an overtime loss to Temple on March 25.

• The Lancaster, NY, native ranks tied for fifth in the BIG EAST in goals (31), third in shots (74), fifth in draw controls (48) and is tied for the lead with nine free-position goals in 2017.

SHE’S FRAN-TASTIC• Senior defender Fran Meyer is in the midst of a breakout season as she has embraced a leadership role on the backline. Through 12 games, she ranks second in the BIG EAST with 25 caused turnovers, surpassing her career-high of 22 set in 2016. Over half of her total has come in the previous six contests where she has totaled 17 caused turnovers to go along with 15 ground balls and eight draw controls. Against Northwestern on March 11, the Oak Brook, Illinois, native registered a single-game program-record of six caused turnovers.